A. It looks like a hybrid bar & deli.

Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?

A. Somewhere in Miami.

Q. When did we see it on the show?

A. In Episode 4 - "All in the Family".

Dexter spends a good part of this episode trying to drive poor Ramon Prado crazy. In a later incident,
he phones him, stands him up at a bar, and gets him arrested.

In this earlier scene, he's a bit more subtle. He's just as annoying as possible.

He shows up at Miguel & Ramon's "secret spot" (or, as Ramon laments, "It used to be..."), a bar/deli, supposedly to pick up a take-out order, and pretends to be surprised to find Ramon there.

He then proceeds to act friendly and harmless, while actually saying things that he knows will cause Ramon to react, such as telling him that his brother, Miguel, is sharing family secrets with Dexter, or that Miguel has talked to him about Ramon's drinking.

In short, he lets Ramon know that, slowly but surely, Miguel is replacing Ramon with Dexter as his closest friend.  And it has the desired infuriating effect, making Ramon even more hostile and unstable.

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. A restaurant bar.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. This is a familiar spot for the "Dexter" crew: Tequila Jack's Mexican restaurant, at 407 Shoreline Village Drive, in Shoreline Village, a seaside dining and shopping village in Long Beach, CA.

Shoreline Village is located on the south side of Shoreline Drive, just east of the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific.

To be more specific, this scene was shot in the narrow bar on the north side of the restaurant, where you'll find those same familiar murals on the walls.

It appears, though, that the large diamond-shaped frame (visible in the top photo) was added to the wall, and it partially obscures one of the bar's authentic murals. They also put a red & white checkered tablecloth over the bar (to make it look more like a deli, perhaps), and covered up the flat-screen TV's near the ceiling.


The same bar was used at least twice before, in Season 2, where it served as the bar where Lila tells dirty jokes to Dexter's co-workers, and as a bar where Debra meets with Gabriel.


It's also very near the other bar used later in the episode, where Dexter tricks Ramon into getting drunk & busted. That one is just down the boardwalk, at the same Shoreline Village. It's also very near the boardwalk area where they set up the scene of Dexter confronting Nathan Marten at a sidewalk cafe.
And it's right across the street from the roof where they staged the angry confrontation between Miguel & Dexter.



I shot the photo below in 2009.




I shot the photo of the interior of the bar in 2008.  Note the murals on the walls.




Here is an aerial photo of the restaurant/bar. And here is a map link.

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A.  I'm really ashamed of myself for not recognizing this place immediately.  They have filmed here in the past, and I even shot the photo above for two previous "Dexter" locations (in Season 2). But for some reason, I drew a blank on this one, until someone tipped me that it was shot at Shoreline, and then I suddenly realized why those murals on the walls looked familiar...